


To the Depths

by Night_Queen3927



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Gods & Goddesses, Canon-Typical Violence, Demigods, Family, Family Feels, Gen, God blessed, Good Brother Hashirama, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, Protective Family, Protective Hashirama, Songfic, Story within a Story, god touched, japanese gods, world building
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2020-05-21
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:28:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24296623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Night_Queen3927/pseuds/Night_Queen3927
Summary: Gods and goddesses watch over the world, and occasionally come down to interact with humans. Gods and goddesses have humans that they care for, that are their favorite in that generation or family. Gods and Goddesses are venerated by humans as they decide humans fate. Stories are told about the actions of gods and goddesses.What happen when all four of those facts collide in a single person, Senju Tobirama?
Relationships: Senju Butsuma & Senju Hashirama, Senju Hashirama & Senju Tobirama, Senju Hashirama & Uchiha Madara, Senju Tobirama & Senju Touka, Senju Tobirama & Uchiha Izuna, Senju Touka & Uchiha Hikaku, Uchiha Izuna & Uchiha Madara
Comments: 8
Kudos: 169





	To the Depths

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Captured Crimson](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18353984) by [Emilx311](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emilx311/pseuds/Emilx311). 



> Don't own Naruto, not making any money off this, only stress-relief. 
> 
> Warnings: I think I hit all the high points with the tags. This does have violence that is common in Naruto, so don't read if you don't want to read about some of that.
> 
> This is my first Naruto fic. I can't remember every nitty-gritty detail of the manga or anime (I don't think anyone can), so don't come harping on me about this isn't canon-compliant or this is OOC.

_Water is many things. It is cruel, seizing sailors in its grasp and sending them to the bottom of the ocean. It is kind, offering a bounty of food to those sailors to sail its surface. It is peaceful, still, and calm, a mirror upon which beauty is reflected and shown. It is violent, raging, and angry, a twisted reflection of the worst of humanity that sails upon it._

One thing that all sailors say about the ocean, is that it is unpredictable. That one moment, the waves are calm and small; dolphins leap out of the waves, chittering playfully, trying to convince the humans on a small boat to jump in and play; fish swim in schools, darting and dashing in arcane, unknowable configurations. The next, the waves grow angry, building up height and strength; dolphins flee, fish dart to the bottom to ride out the storm; sailors lash themselves to the mast, tie down anything that could move overboard, the captain stands at the helm, hands tight upon the wheel, fighting with all their strength to steer their boat out, to keep their crew alive.

The few chosen of the sea are just the same. They are unpredictable, even to the people who have known them all their life. One minute they could be raging in fury, vowing vengeance upon all that have angered them, and the next second, they could be calm, reflecting on what had happened to them and accepting it. One day, they could be helping a village, purifying their water sources. The next day, they could be destroying a village, diverting all water away from them, condemning them to be a desert in the midst of plant life.

‘The moon-touched’ is what people call them. People who are more at home in the water, among the raging waves than on land. People with skin that glows in the dark just like the moon. People who, if they are separated from the water, go insane. People who at a young age have white hair, and pale skin. The younger that they are when their hair goes white and their skin pale, the stronger they are in water, the more the moon had touched them in the womb. They say that if a babe was born with white hair and red eyes, that Tsukuyomi himself had come down and kissed the babe in the womb.

The stories surrounding the moon-touched are all different. Some relate a story of a man standing on the shoreline, redirecting a hurricane, blue eyes glaring. Some detail a woman running along a tsunami wave, shrinking it with every step, teal eyes gleaming. Others depict a person diving deep into the waters to save drowning people, black eyes glinting. 

But those same stories all show all sides of the people. The man who redirected a hurricane, sent it crashing into another section of the coastline. The woman who shrunk the tsunami wave, sent it back back out to sea where boats were sunk by it. The person diving to rescue drowning people, they decided which people would be saved and which would remain in the water’s cold embrace.

But every story of the moon-touched ended the same way. One day, they started to hear a song. The song started quiet, only a background noise, easy to ignore. But every time they touched water, every time that they manipulated water, the song grew louder and stronger.

Until one day, the song was all that they heard. And just like the waves to the moon, they followed it. They stopped what it was they were doing, and just started walking. They walked until their feet bled, and continued, leaving a trail of bloody footprints. They walked as their family begged them to stay, as their children clung to their arms, and didn’t slow down in the slightest. They walked as their eyes blurred over and only saw the horizon and the ocean. They walked on the ocean, stars glimmering and the moon shining above them. They walked until the shore was barely visible, and then they stopped walking. 

They sat down on the waves, and finally let their eyes close. Finally let their feet take a break. Finally took a rest.

And every time, a wave came from nowhere, exactly the height of the moon-touched, and covered them from the sight of anyone who might’ve followed them.

And when the wave was gone, so was the moon-touched.

~-_~-_~-_~-_~-_

“The baby is crowning, Senju-sama.” A midwife said calmly, offering support. “It’s time to push.”

A silver-haired woman laid in a birthing bed, belly round with child. Sweat dripped from her red face as she clenched her jaw, and started pushing.

An hour later, the baby was born. A wail split the area, as if to say, ‘I’m here! Look at me!’. Swiftly a midwife placed the baby in a basin and cleaned it off, rubbing softly with a towel to dry it. Swaddling the baby with ease, the midwife offered it to the mother, still panting from the delivery. “Congratulations, Senju-sama. You gave birth to a healthy baby boy.” 

The baby mewled and opened his eyes, blinking at the light. A gasp echoed through the room as everyone saw the babies eyes.

“Moon-touched.” Was the word that everyone breathed. The babe blinked, red eyes looking everywhere and nowhere. He yawned, the white fuzz on his head visible in the moonlight streaming through the window.

___________ 

A week had passed, and the babe had survived. He was a silent babe, one who only cried when he needed food or attention.

“Butsuma, it’s time to name the babe.” A woman said, cradling the red-eyed babe in her arms.

“Of course, Nagisa.” Butsuma said, gently brushing the back of his hand down the woman’s cheek. He picked up a brush, dipped the tip of it into the pot of ink, and started writing on the piece of paper in front of him. “Senju Tobirama, son of Senju Butsuma and Senju Nagisa.” He announced, laying down the brush and picking up the paper. Walking over to the wall, he pinned the paper to it. “The space between two doors, the space between the ocean and the land. Kami willing, the ocean will not be able to seize him if he isn’t on land or the ocean.”

“Welcome to the world, Tobirama.” Nagisa whispered, bending over to plant a kiss on his forehead. “May you live long, and may the ocean not pull you away from us.”

___________

A white-haired boy panted as he scrambled backwards. His shirt was stained with blood and a small kunai was held tightly in his right hand.

“Calm down, Senju.” A grown man snarled, a cut dripping blood underneath his eye. He pulled a katana from a sheath on his back, the metal scraping ominously. “Hold still, and this won’t hurt a bit.”

The boy yelped and dodged as the katana swung right where he was sitting. Flipping onto his hands and knees, he scuttled out of the way, into the rushing river. “Go away, Uchiha!”

“My clan head gave me an order to see Senju Butsuma’s heirs dead!” The man snapped, slicing his katana through the air. “You’re his second son, and that means you are an heir. Which means you must die!” The katana thrust forward, piercing through the boy’s thin shoulder.

A scream pierced the air, as blood dripped from the metal embedded in the boy’s shoulder. He thrust his hands out, fingers splayed and palms facing the Uchiha. With a grunt of effort, he yanked his hands back, closing them into fists.

Red mist flew out of the man, who suddenly crumbled into dust.

___________

“Hashirama, bearer of the Mokuton, you have a vital task.” Butsuma said, cleaning his sword with long strokes.

“Yes, tou-sama?” Hashirama was sitting in front of Butsuma, legs tucked underneath him and feet on top of each other.

“Have you heard the stories of the moon-touched?” Butsuma asked, focused only on gently wiping his sword with a towel, buffing out any imperfections.

“No, tou-sama.” Hashirama answered, gnawing on his lower lip.

“They are people who have extraordinary talent in manipulating water from a young age, doing things that no one else could dream of.” Butsuma’s brown eyes looked at his son while his hand continued it’s strokes. “They have skin that glows like the moon.” Hashirama’s eyebrows furrowed together. “Their hair is white as seafoam and in rare cases, eyes as red as the blood moon.” Hashirama perked up, mouth opening. Butsuma set his sword on his lap, and looked directly into his heir’s eyes. “And without fail, they always drown in the sea, when they have manipulated too much water to ignore its call.”

“Tobirama?” Hashirama croaked, eyes becoming shiny with tears.

“Is moon-touched, indeed he is moon-kissed.” Butsuma confirmed, standing up and sliding his sword back into his sheath. “He’s only 14, but the ocean is already pulling on him. Don’t you see him, after battles, he’s always looking east, to the Chigiri Sea or south to the Fire Sea.”

“What can I do? How do I keep him with us?” Tears leaked from Hashirama’s eyes as he saw a future with no little brothers left. “I can’t lose him too! I already lost Itama and Kawarama!”

“Limit how much he uses water, in all aspects of his life. Encourage him to do research on other things.” Butsuma swung his sheathed sword onto his back. “You are the only one that he listens to other than me. And soon, it’ll only be you that he listens to. Just don’t tell him about it, he’ll do more water manipulation to try and study it.”

“Tou-sama?” Hashirama pushed himself up onto his feet, swaying a bit as blood rushed back into his feet.

“Uchiha Tajima has become too dangerous for the rest of the clan. His flames are becoming larger, covering a bigger area.” Butsuma slipped a single chest plate on, knowing his plan for the future. “I’ll take him out and he’ll take me out.”

“But, Tou-sama!” Hashirama protested, eyes wide with fear. 

“Don’t worry Hashirama. I’ve lived a lot longer than most Shinobi.” Butsuma said reassuringly, flashing a smile to his oldest child. “I’ve buried my wife, my friends, my cousins, my nieces and nephews, and two of my sons. I can’t watch as Tobirama continues using water to block Tajima’s fire from hitting our clan, knowing that he’s walking closer to the Shinigami with every battle.” Butsuma’s head snapped up, hearing the sound of the war horns. Butsuma paused and ran his hand through Hashirama’s long hair and pressed his forehead against Hashirama’s. “Never doubt this. I love both of you with all my heart, and this is so that you can live longer. Maybe you will finally be able to bring peace between the Senju and Uchiha.” Butsuma slid his headband on to hold back all of his hair. With a final smile he darted out of the house.

Hashirama took a breath, wiped away his tears, and composed himself before darting after him. His red armor clicked quietly with every step that he took, sword firmly in its sheath.

One by one, other Senju shinobi joined the group. A man with cropped auburn hair fell in behind Hashirama, a battle-axe on his back. A woman with a scar raking across her face joined, a brown and white tessen secured on each hip with a larger fan closed and tied across her back. Senju Tōka stepped in, running next to Hashirama, lips painted a bloody crimson, hair tied up out of the way, and a naginata secured on her back. A man with black eyes raced in, taking his place in the group, tucking one last shuriken into a belt. 

Senju Tobirama leapt down from the trees, smoothly integrating into his place to the left of his father. “The Uchiha are approaching the border. Both of the heirs and the clan head are there. It feels like the head is a little weaker than normal. There are only about 10 shinobi in this party”

_Into the sea. Call you close to me._

Tobirama shook his head, hearing the song faintly. No one else had reacted to the song.

“Good job, Tobirama.” Butsuma said, giving his youngest surviving son a smile. Suddenly, he poured on a burst of speed, outstripping all the other shinobi with him. 

Butsuma burst onto the field, a streak that none of the Uchiha’s expected. With a fierce snarl, he lunged directly for Tajima, unsheathing his sword in a single fluid movement. With a grunt of effort, Butsuma pivoted on his heel, avoiding the burst of flame that Tajima unleashed. All the other Senju shinobi flooded onto the battlefield, and started battling an enemy shinobi. 

One man swung his battle axe with a roar, nearly splitting a Uchiha in two. Snarling with effort, he swung the heavy axe as if it was a feather. Wielding it expertly, he took on two Uchiha at the same time. He used both the head and the iron-capped butt equally.

One started hurling shuriken with pinpoint accuracy, taking down Uchiha after Uchiha with incapacitating strikes. The man showed no hesitation, plucking a shuriken from his belt and throwing it milliseconds later.

A woman flipped her fans open, and started dancing. Every movement that she made was graceful and deadly. Her fans were expertly crafted, a decorated iron outer cover and reinforced wooden ribs. They struck out, metal deflecting swords and pulling weapons away. With a sharp crack over the head with one of the fans, an Uchiha went down and stayed down.

Senju Touka met with Uchiha Hikaku, smiling a bloody, fierce smile. “Nice to see you again, Hika. Did you miss me?” She swept her naginata at his feet, aiming to cut his ankles out from under him.

“Hello, Tōka.” Hikaku replied, jumping over the blade easily. “I can’t say that I particularly did.”

“Aw, that hurts my feelings.” Tōka pouted, spinning around to try and slam the iron-capped butt of her weapon into Hikaku’s knees. 

With a laugh, Hikaku pulled out his bō staff. Sparks flew as the metal staff clashed with Tōka’s weapon. They started fighting in earnest, only tossing out the occasional quip.

Madara met with Hashirama with a burst of flame spouting from his mouth, blocked by a wooden wall sprouting from the ground. They snarled at each other, Madara swinging a gunbai to cut the wood that raced to pin him. Still, their battle wasn’t one between enemies or broken friends, it was a sparring match. Neither truly wanted to kill the other, yet couldn’t stop in case the other would turn their immense power onto their clan.

Seconds after Madra and Hashirama met, Izuna and Tobirama clashed. Unlike their older siblings, they were fighting to kill. They each feared what would happen if the other won, believing that the winner would annihilate the loser’s clan. Metal rang as they clashed swords, steam billowed as fire jutsus collided with water jutsus.

Suddenly a shout of pain echoed across the field, paired with a sudden burst of heat.

Butsuma and Tajima were locked in death’s embrace together. A blood stained sword protruded from Tajima back, a deadly blow. A kunai was stabbed into Butsuma’s neck, and a burn covered Butsuma’s dominant arm. 

Madara and Hashirama simultaneously stopped attacking each other, racing to attend to their fathers. Tajima stumbled backwards, collapsing into his son’s arms, the sword leaving a hole in his chest. Butsuma crumbled to the ground, a faint smile on his face as he hit the ground with a thud.

By mutual and unspoken agreement, all the Senju and Uchiha shinobi disengaged and retreated. Both clans knew that the next time that they met that they would have a new clan head, and both Tajima and Butsuma would be dead.

___________

The entire Senju clan was gathered within the compound walls in a grassy area. In the middle of the area was a stone table, gray and cracked with age, yet still standing. A long white cloth covered it, the hems embroidered with symbols meant to ward off yōkai, to bless the spirits, for protection. Butsuma’s body rested on top of it, stripped of armor and clothed in a white kimono. A white cloth was draped over his face, so that no yōkai could possess his body.

“Senju Butsuma.” An elder pronounced, hair silvered with age and wrinkles all over their body. “Son of Senjua Takuma, you have done your duty. You have kept our clan alive for 30 years, and blessed us with heirs that will continue your work.” The elder twisted their hands, creating a hole in the ground. Hashirama and Tobirama stepped up, Hashirama standing by Butsuma’s head and Tobirama stood by his feet. As one, both sons grasped the hem of the cloth and started to cover the body. The elder continued to speak as Butsuma was swathed in cloth, “Your work is done, may you continue onto the Pure Land. May you be reunited with your beloved wife, Nagisa. May you see your sons again, Itama and Kawarama, taken too soon from this life. May you meet the rest of the Senju clan in peace and prosperity.” Finished with the wrapping, Butsuma’s body was concealed from sight. The white cloth only showed his outline and the red embroidery keeping him safe. The elder stepped up to the table and laid Butsuma’s sword on his chest, still stained with the blood of Tajima. “May you protect our clan in death, as you protected it in life.”

With a twitch of his fingers, Tobirama encased Butsuma’s body in ice. Preserving it so that all of the Senju clan could pay their final respects. When that was done, he would melt the ice away so that Butsuma could be buried with the rest of the clan.

___________

“Tobi, wait.” Hashirama caught Tobirama’s sleeve as he started to leave. Tobirama turned, red eyes on his last family member. “I have a request for you.”

“I’ll do my best to do it.” Tobirama responded, arching a brow “What is it?”

“You are the only one that can do most of the suiton jutsus in the clan. I want you to do more research on the different types of jutsus that the rest of the clan can do to defend against the katon jutsus that the Uchiha clan uses.” Hashirama blinked guilessly, hoping that Tobirama wouldn’t question him. “That way we have more defenses!”

“Of course, anija.” Tobirama said, giving him a short bow. “I’ll get started on that right away.”

_Into the sea, call you close to me.  
Slide 'neath the waves, down into the caves._

Tobirama gave his head a shake, trying to ignore the song that had somehow got into his head.

~-_~-_~-_~-_~-_

Years passed. 

Hashirama grew stronger and more proficient with wielding his Mokuton. He never fought to kill Madara though, still holding onto that last bit of childhood hope that they could make a village together. A village to protect the last of their family, to keep them alive.

Madara grew stronger, flames growing hotter and deadlier. Furious that even with his fire and his gunbai, he was never able to throw himself fully into battle with Hashirama, intending that only one or neither would walk away. Still he remembered his childhood flights of fancy, huddling over a shrine to pray to the spirits of his family, wanting nothing more than to reduce how many spirits he prayed to.

Izuna grew stronger, with every new trick that Tobirama found, he trained equally hard to counter it in the next battle. He honed his sword skills, ready to follow in his father’s footsteps if needed. When the Demon of the Senju grew so powerful that Izuna couldn’t contain him alone.

Tobirama learned more, mind going down thousand tracks all the time, obsessed with developing new jutsus to help his clan. Still, he defaulted back to his trademarks when battling with Izuna, pulling out water to douse the flames sent his way. 

And with every battle, the song continued for longer, almost done and growing louder with every moment that Tobirama lived. 

_Into the sea, call you close to me.  
Slide ‘neath the waves, down into the caves.  
Come to me, my love, come rest in my arms.  
Dream your dreams with me, slide beneath the sea.  
Come with me, my love, forget the world of three.  
Slide ‘neath the waves, down into the caves._

~-_~-_~-_~-_~-_

“Please, Madara!” Hashirama was all but begging, tears welling up in his eyes. “Please, just think about accepting peace!”

“Shut up!” Madara roared, sending a gout of flame at Hashirama. Teeth bared, he snarled, “Just stop harping on about peace!”

5 meters from their older brothers, Tobirama and Izuna were clashing. Sword rang against sword, sparks flying. Angry words were exchanged with every blow, insults hurled about the other.

Suddenly, everyone heard a rush of water. Instinctively, they all looked to the sound, knowing that the unexpected would kill much faster than the expected. 

In the middle of the field stood Tobirama, arms raised above his head and elbows bent. Circling the air above him was a water dragon, one made of water so clean that you could see through it and much larger than anything that he had ever made before. His fingers twitched and the dragon attacked, putting out all the fires that were burning on the field. Rushing through the air, it separated all the shinobi, teeth snapping at those who tried to attack.

Hashirama turned from Madara, the first time that he had ever ignored him on the battlefield, and rushed to Tobirama’s side. Slowly, hand shaking, he lifted up Tobirama’s chin, praying to all the kamis above that his last brother’s eyes would still be a vivid red.

Tobirama’s eyes had changed color, the red gone. One was as blue as the deep sea and the other as milky white as the moon.

“Touka! The call!” Hashirama called, twisting to call his cousin over. “He’s fallen!”

Touka abandoned her stand-off with Uchiha Hikaku, hand weaving a seal as she charged over to her cousins. Falling to her knees, looking into clouded-over eyes, she started to speak, “Genjutsu-”

A wall of water smacked her away. Tobirama flowed to his feet, eyes wide and unseeing, hand directing water in its movements. Muscles tensing in his thighs, his head turned unerringly to the east. With a loud crack, Tobirama sprung away from his brother and clan, leaving behind a large circle of earth that was cracked and indented. Tobirama ran, something pulling him east, a siren call that only he could hear.

Hashirama howled in pain, roots erupting through the ground. Determination etched on his face, he ran after his brother, the very plants bending out of his way, giving him a boost in speed.

Touka stood up, a snarl on her face, rubbing her forehead. Cutting her eyes to the left and right, she looked at all of her clan. Raising a hand into the air, she clenched it into a fist, and slammed it to the east. Voice loud and carrying, she screamed, “The call has been heard! But we will not hear it!” Spinning on her heel, she crouched down and took after like a shot after her cousins, naginata knocking any Uchiha out of her way. 

The rest of the clan, looked at each other, and nodded. As one, they all pulled a strip of leather out of their pouches, and tied it around their wrist. Suddenly, they all followed Touka, the leather strips guiding them on which way they had run. All the Uchihas dove out of the way, sensible enough to realize that a group of armor-plated people with sharp weapons that had an unknown objective were extremely dangerous. All the Senju warriors took to the trees, vanishing into the foliage within seconds, only faint metal clinking signaling their position.

The Uchiha clan just stood around, unsure of what to do. Their enemy had just deserted the battlefield in pursuit of one of their own, one that had just taken them down temporarily.

“Izuna?” Madara turned to his brother, hoping that as Tobirama’s rival, he would know what had happened.

“Moon-kissed. Tsukuyomi-blessed.” Izuna hissed, eyes wide with shock. His face was pale and drawn as if he had just realized that he had committed a grievous crime. Which was true in a sense as the Uchiha clan worshipped Amaterasu as the goddess who created their clan and gave them the Sharingan. Tsukuyomi was her husband, estranged but both still loved each other, forever chasing each other in the skies. In the Uchiha clan, harming a blessed of Amaterasu or Tsukuyomi was a grave crime as the power of the Uchiha waxed and waned with the blessing of both deities.

Madara sucked in a breath, eyes fearful. “The call, Izuna.” He breathed, realizing what had happened. “Tobirama-sama must have heard Tsukuyomi calling him home to the sea and left because of that.” Izuna just shakily pointed at the path the Senju had carved, chasing after Tobirama, arching an eyebrow in question. “They must not know the stories! They can’t keep Tobirama-sama from Tsukuyomi!” Whirling around, hem flaring out dramatically, Madara called out, “Hikaku, you’re coming with Izuna and me! Everyone else go back to the compound, I’ll explain later.” With that Madara took off, Izuna and Hikaku chasing after him.

___________

Fingers flicking in random patterns, Tobirama called up and moved water. Water whips seized on thrown weapons and hurled them in random directions. Water sprung up and wrapped around ankles, turning to ice. Ground turned to mud, sinking shinobi up to the middle of their torsos and then solidifying so that they could breath but not weave hand signs. Waves crashed over shinobi, diverting them onto a different path. Walls shot up around a shinobi and froze, preventing them from moving. Trees were dried out as Tobirama pulled water out of them for him to use.

Soon, the only ones that were left were Hashirama and Touka. Hashirama by virtue of the Mokuton and Touka with her ability to predict all of Tobirama’s movements. They continued tracking Tobirama, never able to catch him as he knew their tricks as well as they knew his and his speed was only challenged by Izuna.

Random roots would suddenly shoot to the surface of the earth, only for Tobirama to jump over them. Branches whipped out to try and catch Tobirama by any part of his body, but Tobirama merely flowed away from them, ducking and weaving. Ice walls shot up, blocking branches that he couldn’t avoid. Tobirama avoided Touka’s genjutsus by navigating based on his hearing and sensing which Touka couldn’t manipulate. Her naginata was of no use as Tobirama was too far ahead for her to fight with it.

Madara, Izuna, and Hikaku followed the path that the Senjua blazed through the forest. Trees twisted awkwardly, bending towards the path and away from it. A few Senju were stuck in the ground, only their upper torso and heads visible. Huge puddles of water laid everywhere. Plants were soaked with water, with droplets beading everywhere on them while their neighbors were dry. Weapons were stuck in branches and lodged deep within dirt.

___________

Tobirama ran, knowing that the ocean was close, that he was almost there. 

_Into the sea, call you close to me.  
Slide ‘neath the waves, down into the caves._

His feet landed on the beach and finally stopped running. Walking slowly, Tobirama’s eyes were fixed on the sea. He kicked off his shoes, toes digging into the sand, heels leaving barely there imprints.

_Come to me, my love, come rest in my arms.  
Dream your dreams with me, slide beneath the sea._

Slowly, Tobirama started to take off his armor. Blue metal hit the sand, a sand spray kicking up. Metal clanked against metal as the pieces of battle-tested armor hit each other. Finally, Tobirama was bare of war, armor discarded, sword forgotten on the battlefield. Loose black clothing and his white fur was all he wore, the bottom of his sleeves and pants taped down so that it wouldn’t flow and catch on things. Reaching up, he pulled his happuri off, running a finger over the Senju symbol etched on it.

_Come with me, my love, forget the world of three.  
Slide ‘neath the waves, down into the caves._

Tobirama’s fingers lost their strength, happuri falling from them to land in the sand. Step by step, he walked towards the sea. Eyes were full of longing, a single tear leaking from his eye.

Suddenly Hashirama and Touka erupted from the forest with a yell, fighting with Hikaku and Madara. Neither of the Uchihas were attacking to kill, just trying to delay them long enough for Tsukuyomi to take his blessed back. Trying to keep the Senjus from pulling Tobirama away from the sea and condemning him to a fate worse than death.

Izuna raced up to Tobirama, falling in step with him. His black eyes spun into the Sharingan, determined to catch every moment of Tobirama returning home.

A man erupted from the sea at the same time that a man appeared in a sunbeam. Both men had an ethereal beauty and long black hair. One had scales on his body, patterned so that they almost looked like waves crashing upon a shore. The other had skin that practically glowed, yet was dotted with dark scars.

“Tobirama.” The scarred one sighed, a faint smile on his face. He stretched out a hand to the man standing on the shore. “My blessed.”

“He’s my child!” The scaled man hissed, waves gaining height, splashing against his knees. His clothes were wet from the water and the sea spray. “You can’t keep him in the sky!”

Izuna crashed to his knees, folding his body so that his head was touching the sand. “Ryūgin-sama, Tsukuyomi-sama. I apologize for my actions.”

The man with scars turned, looking down at the man kneeling on the sand. Humming, he said, “You have my wife’s eyes, ningen.”

“Tsukuyomi-sama, I am the heir of the Uchiha clan, the one that your generous wife was so kind as to bless with her all-seeing eyes.” Izuna said, still kneeling on the ground, not looking at the gods. “If I may be so bold as to ask you something, may I see you bringing Tobirama-sama back home with you? It would be something my clan would be honored to know.”

“Wait a minute!” Ryūgin snarled, stomping closer. “Tobirama is coming home with me, ningen!”

“He is mine, Ryūgin.” Tsukuyomi replied coldly, lips pursed together. “Or are you challenging me?”

“I’m not challenging you, Tsukuyomi-sama.” Ryūgin sighed, closing his blue eyes. “I would like to point out the bonds of family between Tobirama and I. I sired his mother, who in turn bore him. I just want to be able to spend time with my grandson, the one who takes after me.”

“I do not disparage the bonds of family, Ryūgin. However, I am the one who blessed him. I’m the one who ensured that he would survive longer than his first month. I adopted him into my family.”

“Kami-sama.” Izuna interrupted, voice quiet and meek. “If I may offer a suggestion? Why don’t you share Tobirama-sama between you? During the day, he can be with Ryūgin-sama, and during the night, he can be with Tsukuyomi-sama, or any combination that you can think of.”

Tsukuyomi looked at Ryūgin and arched a black eyebrow. “This compromise works for me, Ryūgin. Will it work for you?”

“Yes, Tsukuyomi-sama. This is acceptable.” With the deal struck, both gods bowed to each other. “I will take Tobirama with me, and when the moon rises, you may have him.”

Tsukuyomi merely nodded, and then turned to Izuna. “Heir of my wife’s favored clan, look at me.” When Izuna rocked back onto his heels, eyes focused on Tsukuyomi’s robes, he continued. “Watch my blessed, and share his story with your clan. Remember him.” With that last decree, he dissolved into the sunlight shining on the beach, fading away.

Ryūgin smiled and walked closer to Tobirama, hand still outstretched. Quietly, he sang, “Would you come with me? We’ll swim the deep blue sea.”

“Yes.” Tobirama breathed, a smile of pure ecstasy breaking out across his face. His eyes had regained their red color, but were still full of longing. “I’ll come with you.”

Slowly, Tobirama walked into the waves, balancing on top of them. He took Ryūgin’s hand and together they walked out into the distance, standing on top of the water.

Izuna strained his eyes, dots whirling as he focused on Tobirama, standing on the waves with Ryūgin. He looked on as Tobirama turned to look at Izuna, and gently smiled at him. He focused as Tobirama breathed three words.

“Thank you, Izuna.”

A wave came up from the placid surface, rivaling the height of a tsunami wave. It hovered at its peak, for longer than naturally possible, casting both Ryūgin and Tobirama in shadow. Then it crashed down, reunited with the ocean.

Both Ryūgin and Tobirama were gone.

“What have you done!” Hashirama screamed, finally fighting his way free of Madara and running to the shore. “He’ll drown and die!”

“Do you know nothing of Tsukuyomi’s blessed? Have you never heard the stories of the lucky few that are chosen by him.” Madara hissed, teeth bared. “Tobirama-sama is joining Tsukuyomi-sama in his court as one of his favored, his blessed.”

“Aniki, he’s joining Ryūgin-sama’s court first.” Izuna interrupted. “He’ll spend the nights with Tsukuyomi-sama and the days with Ryūgin-sama.”

“See, Hashirama. Your brother is fine. He’ll spend eternity with Ryūgin-sama and Tsukuyomi-sama.”

“But he’ll never see his family again!” Touka snarled, dragging Hikaku behind her. “If a Senju is not buried with their family, they can’t join them in the Pure Lands.”

“Touka-san. I’m saying this with the greatest respect for your skill as a warrior, but you are not thinking.” Hikaku added, just staring at the sky, knowing that if he struggled, he would get a lump on the head. “The gods have taken Tobirama-sama into their court. A court includes the Shinigami, as he is the god of the dead. As the blessed of Tsukuyomi-sama, ruler of the gods, and the child of Ryūgin-sama, the gods will allow him to visit his mortal family in the Pure Lands.”

“But what about all the stories!” Hashirama protested, tears leaking from his eyes. “They all say that the moon-touched drown at sea.”

“There hasn’t been a moon-touched in Hi No Kuni for generations, so all the stories are warped!” Izuna hissed, Sharingan whirling. “Ryūgin-sama takes the moon-touched into his palace until the full moon is high above the sea, then Tsukuyomi-sama takes them into his court.”

~-_~-_~-_~-_~-_

“Ryūgin-sama, was it you who was singing to me?” Tobirama asked, padding down the hallway after Ryūgin.

“Partly, my child. The song is linked to my waters, so the more contact you had with my waters, the stronger the song. Tsukuyomi was the one singing it. Didn’t you notice that it started when the moon was full and at its highest point in the sky.” Ryūgin explained, chuckling quietly. “You’ll hear it every time that the moon is full and high. My song is shorter, but I often sing it with Tsukuyomi as we rely on each other a lot.”

_Into the sea, call you close to me.  
Slide ‘neath the waves, down into the caves.  
Come to me, my love, come rest in my arms.  
Dream your dreams with me, slide beneath the sea.  
Come with me, my love, forget the world of three.  
Slide ‘neath the waves, down into the caves._

_Would you come with me?  
We’ll swim the deep blue sea.  
We’ll swim with the fish and the whale.  
Oh, my what a fantastic tale.  
With you and me, under the sea._

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, and hope it was worthwhile.
> 
> As the little link at the top hints(says explicitly), this was semi-inspired by Emilx311's work Captured Crimson. More along the lines of hey, what if the other gods in the Naruto-verse/Japanese mythology also had people that had visible signs of their favor on them. Then the muse came along
> 
> As always, if I screwed up with grammar/spelling/punctuation, feel free to tell me.
> 
> The song used in this fic is the siren song from H2O just add water. I changed some of the words and added some to make it fit better in my fic.
> 
> Ryūgin is a Japanese Deity, specifically he is the dragon king, sea god, and master of serpents. He controls the tides with his magic jewels and is also viewed as a deity that knows medicine. You can look him up for more information about him on Google/Bing/*insert search engine of preference here*


End file.
